As we enter heating season here in Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts, you’ll hear a lot of people talking about their home’s heating system.
More often than not, they’ll use the word “furnace.” As in, “It’s time to turn on the furnace already?!” or “I’m having Wesco Oil come do a tune-up of the furnace.”
But they may not actually have a furnace at all. They could have a boiler.
What’s the difference between a furnace and a boiler? you ask. Some big ones. And you need to know what you’ve got so you can take proper care of it.
Wesco Oil installs, maintains, and repair both furnaces and boilers. Our service technicians are all trained, knowledgeable, and experienced.
A furnace is what makes a forced-air heating system run. It burns fuel such as heating oil to heat air. That heated air is then pushed through your ductwork to heat rooms and spaces in your home through vents, which are also sometimes called registers. If you have those vents or registers for home heating, you have a furnace.
Because air is constantly circulating into the furnace when it is running, the air filter is essential to protecting your furnace and keeping it running at its best possible efficiency. Check your air filter every month and change as needed.
You may be forcing your furnace to work harder and not even realize it. Obstructions like curtains and furniture can get in the way of the heated air coming from the registers, so it doesn’t circulate around the room. Go around your home and move those obstructions.
There are two basic types of boiler: hydronic (hot water) and steam. A hydronic boiler burns fuel to heat water, then pumps it through pipes and into your baseboards or radiators. A steam boiler operates pretty much the same way as a hydronic boiler. But instead of heating water, it converts water into steam before sending it through to your radiators and baseboards.
If your baseboards aren’t getting warm, check to see if the damper is open. Then go around your room and make sure the bottom of the unit isn’t blocked by heavy carpeting. If you have a steam boiler system, check the boiler’s water gauge. Low water levels can shut down your boiler. Steam boilers should also be flushed when the water in the gauge looks rusty.
Count on Wesco Oil to take good care of your furnace or boiler. Contact us for service!
The time is coming soon here in Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts when we’ll be turning on the heat and keeping it on.
Make sure that your home’s furnace or boiler is ready for whatever the winter of 2020-21 throws at us by getting it an annual maintenance tune-up from Wesco Oil.
Proper maintenance of your home’s heating system is essential to being comfortable in your home this winter. Here’s why that is.
Think about when you come home on a cold day. All you want is to get warm. With a professionally maintained furnace or boiler, you will get warm and get warm fast because it is running at its peak performance. If your furnace or boiler is not maintained properly, it may not be able to get your home warm fast or keep it warm and comfortable.
You know what makes people uncomfortable? Having to shell out big bucks for heating bills. That is another way heating maintenance makes you comfortable. Because an annual tune-up keeps your furnace or boiler operating at its best possible efficiency. You will use less heating oil while not sacrificing even a bit of comfort.
Something else that keeps you comfortable is your heating system just plain running.
When you get an annual maintenance tune-up from Wesco Oil, our knowledgeable and experienced service technicians make sure that every part in your heating system is in good shape, clean, and ready to go. As they inspect your furnace or boiler, they are able to spot any problems and fix them. That means you are much less likely to have a breakdown, because four out of five breakdowns are preventable with regular maintenance.
Contact us today to schedule your annual heating system tune-up and to find out more about our service plans!
With colder weather just around the corner here in Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts, you’ll soon be turning on the furnace or boiler for the season.
Your home’s heating system is a major investment in your home. Replacing it costs thousands of dollars and can go into five figures in some instances.
Protect that investment with a Wesco Oil service plan!
We offer two levels of service plans: Gold and Platinum. You choose the one that best suits your needs and your budget.
Whichever plan you choose, the foundation of our service plans is the annual maintenance tune-up. This is the first way service plans save you money.
Annual maintenance by a professional service technician keeps your furnace or boiler running at its best possible efficiency. That lowers your heating costs.
With regular, professional maintenance, the life of your furnace or boiler can be extended by years. You’ll get the very most out of your investment and not have to shell out for a new heating system as soon.
During a tune-up, our trained and experienced service technicians get the chance to thoroughly inspect your heating system, so they can discover and repair any problems before they become worse and lead to breakdowns and more costly repairs.
If your furnace or boiler does need repairs, that’s where a service plan can really help you save! Parts and labor for many repairs are covered.
With a Platinum plan, you get even more parts and labor covered, and that coverage is 24/7!
Annual professional maintenance is required by many manufacturer’s warranties. Our annual tune-up may help you keep that warranty in effect, which can save you thousands if something goes wrong.
You can also add coverage for your home’s water heater to your service plan.
Contact us to learn more about our great service plans!
Are you in the market for a new water heater for your home here in Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts?
If so, the equipment professionals at Wesco Oil are ready to help! We’ll help you choose the right water heater for your needs, and our trained and experienced service technicians will install and maintain it.
As you shop around, you may be considering upgrading to a tankless water heater. Here are the pros and cons.
All the hot water you need, when you need it. Do you schedule waiting for the water heater to heat more water so you can take a shower into your morning routine? You leave that behind with a tankless water heater. That’s because tankless water heaters heat water on demand and will keep heating as long as water is flowing into the heating element of the tankless unit. You can enjoy a nice, long, hot shower while the dishwasher is running with no worries!
Save big on energy costs. Water heating makes up about 20% of your home’s energy costs. A tankless water heater can cut your water heating energy costs by one-third or more! That’s because it’s not endlessly heating and re-heating water in a tank when you’re not home just so it will be hot when you need it to be.
Get more room in your home. As the name implies, a tankless water heater does not have a tank. That means it takes up much less space in your home. A tankless water heater can be mounted on walls, in crawl spaces, even in closets!
Enjoy your water heater for longer. A tankless water heater lasts on average twice as long as a conventional tank storage water heater.
Price. Tankless water heaters can cost a great deal more than conventional water heaters with a tank, between purchase and installation. But while tankless water heaters are more expensive to purchase than conventional tank storage water heaters, you’ll get a return on that investment from day one with energy savings and a longer lifespan! And we can also help you find rebates for your new tankless water heater.
If you decide that for cost or convenience reasons you prefer to stick with a conventional tank storage water heater, we will make sure you get the right size for your home and your hot water needs, and expertly install and maintain it.
Ready to upgrade to a tankless water heater? Contact us today to get started!
Summer weather gave way to fall quickly this year. That means it will soon be time to turn on the heat in your home, if you haven’t already.
Make sure your home’s heating system is ready for the job ahead by having it get a maintenance tune-up by the service technicians at Wesco Oil!
An annual maintenance tune-up of your furnace or boiler by a professional service technician provides four key benefits.
Prevents breakdowns. There’s a reason they call it “preventative maintenance.” Four out of five heating system repair jobs could have been prevented with regular, professional maintenance. When our service technicians are doing their tune-up of your heating system, they are also closely inspecting it. That gives them the opportunity to spot problems and fix them before they become worse, cause your heating system to break down, and leave you with a big repair bill.
Better efficiency. A properly maintained furnace or boiler operates at its best possible efficiency. You’ll save on energy costs!
Protects your heating system. When your furnace or boiler gets regular, professional maintenance, it runs better and with fewer breakdowns. That can lead to a much longer life expectancy for your home’s heating system.
Protects the warranty. Many manufacturers require annual professional maintenance tune-ups to keep your heating system’s warranty in effect. If you don’t get the tune-ups, you may get stuck with big repair bills down the road when you find out your warranty is voided.
As the weather gets chillier, things heat up in our service department, as everyone wants their furnace or boiler to get tuned up right away. That full schedule means that the longer you wait to schedule, the longer you may have to wait for your tune-up.
But by scheduling your tune-up earlier in the fall, we’re more likely to get to your home faster. You’ll have peace of mind knowing that your furnace or boiler is in its best shape no matter when the first cold snap comes!
Contact Wesco Oil today to schedule your heating system’s maintenance tune-up!
With the arrival of fall this week, the time to use your home’s air conditioning system is coming to a close.
But you shouldn’t just flip your thermostat from “cool” to “fan” or “heat.” There are things you need to do to make sure the A/C is ready to go when warm weather returns next year.
This summer has been a hot one here in Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. As we’re heading into early fall, we may still need to use our A/C, but we should get out of the habit of running it all day and all night. Do these two things to give the A/C a break and lower your energy costs.
Turn up the thermostat setting. Program your thermostat to 78˚ instead of 74˚. The air conditioning won’t cycle on as frequently, but you won’t notice much of a difference in comfort.
Use your ceiling fans. Circulating the air may be enough to keep you cool without having to turn on the air conditioning.
Between grass clippings from mowing the lawn, branches and twigs blown around during storms, and plants and weeds growing, there may be obstructions on or around the air conditioning unit that impede air flow, create unnecessary wear and tear, and can damage the unit. Take a few minutes to clean anything off the unit and make sure that there is at least a foot of clearance around all sides of the A/C unit.
Your home’s air conditioning system needs an annual tune-up to keep it running at peak efficiency. After the hard work it did this summer, it’s a perfect time for our service technicians to not only give it its tune-up, but carefully inspect it and spot problems before they become big ones. We can also let you know if your A/C is reaching the end of its life so you can begin planning to replace it.
You’ll be ahead of the game next year because you won’t have to try and get the A/C serviced when everyone else is, too!
If you put a fresh filter in before summer started and haven’t changed it since, you really need to do this now. Air filters should not be used longer than three months. And they need to be changed more frequently if you have pets or if someone in your home has allergies or a respiratory condition like asthma or COPD.
Now is the time to get your home’s air conditioning a tune-up. Schedule service today!
Summer is coming to a close. As we turn towards autumn, we have some chores ahead of us, like fall housecleaning and planning Halloween costumes.
But before you put summer to bed, there’s one more thing you need to do: Contact Wesco Oil to schedule a tune-up for your home’s air conditioning system.
Surprised at that to-do? Actually, this is an ideal time to have your air conditioning get its regular maintenance. We have 10 reasons why.
It’s been a hotter summer than usual here in Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. All that hot weather has put a lot of demand on your home’s air conditioning system. Our service technicians can closely inspect the A/C for signs of wear or damage, and do any needed repairs now.
Proper, regular maintenance keeps your home’s A/C system running at its best possible efficiency. Not maintaining it reduces its efficiency and increases your energy bills.
If you get your air conditioning tune-up now, it will be ready to go next year as soon as the first hot day comes.
The average cost to install a new central air conditioning system is more than $6,200. Maintaining your home’s A/C system helps extend its lifespan, meaning you won’t have to make that purchase as soon.
When your air conditioning is tuned up, its in its best running condition. Your home will stay cool and comfortable.
A well-maintained air conditioning system uses less energy. Not only is that better for your bank account, using less energy is better for the planet.
Because our service technicians spot and fix problems with your air conditioning system during tune-ups, you can avoid breakdowns that can either lead to repairs or having to replace your air conditioning system. Nine out of 10 A/C systems fail prematurely.
This is a great time to get your air conditioning tune-up. Our service department isn’t in the fall rush for equipment service and repairs, so you’ll be able to schedule your appointment for when it’s convenient for you.
When your air conditioning system gets a tune-up, it’s cleaned both inside and out. That means less dust and allergens circulating into and around your home.
The trained, experienced Wesco Oil service technicians will carefully inspect your air conditioning system. If it’s going to need repairs, they’ll let you know. And if it’s time to replace, they’ll give you an honest opinion on that.
Get in touch with us to schedule your air conditioning tune-up!
No matter that there’s Halloween candy and pumpkin spice everything back at the grocery stores, the calendar and the weather say it’s still summer.
But even though it’s still summer, this is the perfect time to be thinking ahead to the colder weather coming here to Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. And it’s the perfect time to schedule a heating oil delivery from Wesco Oil!
We all lead busy lives, and sometimes we procrastinate, or things fall through the cracks in our schedules.
But procrastinating when it comes to filling your heating oil tank can make your life busier. That’s because if you wait too long, you may not have enough heating oil to get through an early cold snap. You risk a run-out and the hassle and expense of an emergency heating oil delivery.
Many of your neighbors also procrastinate with heating oil delivery, so the demand for delivery goes up the closer it gets to heating season. With that demand, it will likely take longer to get heating oil delivered.
Scheduling your heating oil delivery now lets you beat that rush. You will get your heating oil delivered faster and at a more convenient time for you. And you can rest easy that no matter when things get colder and you have to turn on your title=”boilers and furnaces”furnace or boiler, you’ll have the heating oil you need to keep your home safe and warm.
While you’re scheduling your heating oil delivery, this is also a great opportunity for you to enroll in our Automatic Delivery.
With our FREE Automatic Delivery service, we track your heating oil usage using factors like the size of your home and your prior heating oil usage, and current weather conditions to accurately predict when you need a refill of your heating oil tank. We then schedule a heating oil delivery to your home before you run low.
Contact us today to schedule your heating oil delivery. And don’t forget to ask about our Automatic Delivery service!
For many of us, pets are beloved members of our family.
But you know what doesn’t love your pets? Your home’s HVAC system. The dander and fur your pets shed can damage your HVAC system and help drive up your energy costs.
But we have some tips that will help keep Fido and Fluffy from being problems for your home’s heating and cooling system.
Regular brushing minimizes shedding. Talk with your veterinarian about the proper ways to brush, bathe, and groom your breed of pet.
Pet fur and dander get in your home’s air, and eventually will find their way into your HVAC filter. A filter clogged with pet fur and dander along with the other household dirt and dust makes your HVAC system work harder. That can cause higher energy bills, more wear and tear on your HVAC equipment, and potential breakdowns and big repair bills. Check the HVAC air filter once a month. Do that more frequently if someone in the house has allergies or a respiratory condition such as asthma or COPD. If you can, us HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filters.
Pet fur and dander can also end up in your vents. Prevent buildup by vacuuming the vents regularly and cleaning them with a damp microfiber cloth. Vacuum floors, carpeting, and rugs frequently as well because they also attract and trap dander and fur.
Annual HVAC tune-ups by the knowledgeable Wesco Oil service technicians help keep your HVAC system running at peak efficiency. These tune-ups also let us carefully check your system from top to bottom. If pet fur and dander is causing a problem, we’ll let you know about it and fix it.
If your ductwork collects a lot of fur and dander along with dust, it can become a perfect place for viruses and bacteria to grow and flourish, then circulate all around your home. Have your ductwork professionally cleaned every three to five years.
Trust Wesco Oil with your home’s HVAC system! Contact us today for more information about our HVAC services.
Are you in the market for a new water heater?
If your current water heater is 10 years old or older, you should be researching your options. That’s because most conventional water heaters with a tank have a life expectancy of about 10 years.
Don’t wait until a water heater failure forces your hand to start exploring your options. The equipment professionals at Wesco Oil can help you with any questions you have about upgrading to a new water heater.
Not only do we sell, install, maintain, and repair water heaters, but we can also help you get rebates you may qualify for to help you save even more money!
We’ve put together a list of things you need to think about as you plan for your new water heater.
There are three main categories of water heating appliances:
Some more things to consider when you’re looking at what type of water heater to choose include:
The fuel you use to heat your water will affect how much it costs – sometimes dramatically. The most common fuels are oil, gas, and electricity. We can help you decide which works best for your home and your needs.
You need to heat enough water at a time to meet your family’s need for hot water. But you also don’t want to spend money paying to heat water you won’t use. We’ll discuss your home’s hot water needs so you get the right size.
Right-sizing, the efficiency rating of the water heater itself, proper installation and maintenance, and other factors affect efficiency.
It’s not just the sale price and installation costs that matter. Take into account the other costs over time like energy costs and life expectancy.
Ready to upgrade to a new water heater? Contact the pros at Wesco Oil today!
